Publisher's Summary

Unbinding the Soul provides a simple model of healing, drawn from Jungian Psychology, Tibetan Buddhism, and neuroscience. Using the author's story of profound loss, it shows how wisdom and compassion can transform crisis into an opportunity for deep personal development, self-awakening and a celebration of the human spirit.

Performance

Story

Fascinating

Dr. B. Raven Lee tells her personal story of transformation, a long and winding path through a number of spiritual practices, religions, and philosophies plus training in Jungian psychology and analysis. The technical explanations are interspersed with actual events from her own life.

It's a fascinating story, but I wouldn't call it a self-help book, if that's what you're looking for.

I received a free copy of this audiobook through AudiobookBoom in exchange for an honest review.

An Eye-Opening Helpful Listen

UNBINDING THE SOUL was a real eye-opener for me. I thought the author, Dr. Barbara Raven Lee, mainly through her own personal crisis showed others how she was able to overcome her suffering by opening up to compassion and letting go of negativity.

The things she went through throughout her life led her on a journey of understanding and forgiveness. I liked that she drew from many sources of wisdom and practices. I find it completely practical to understand and draw from western and eastern religion, psychology and physiology of the brain, as well as shamanism.

Overall, for me it was definitely worth the listen and I feel I was given some helpful and useful tools for my own journey.

Traci Odom did an outstanding job narrating this book. She has a nice voice and made it easy to follow. She was clear and I think she outdid herself reading for the author. She did a super job.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom dot com

More a memior with some self-help thrown in

Before I say anything else I want to mention that I am an atheist and hold a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

As an atheist, there was a lot of magic and mystery that was quite over the top. To be very honest, there were parts of this book that made me giggle (at parts not meant to be funny) or kind of grossed me out. For some context, I was once talking to a lady who legit told me that god told her to call in sick and go shopping. While she was there she saw someone she hadn't seen for a while. She explained that god just really wanted her to say hi to that person. I thought she was joking but she was dead serious. I felt squeamish. Many parts of this book made me feel that exact same way. While this book doesn't focus directly on 'god' there is a lot of spirituality involved so prepare yourself.

As a psychology major, I find value and merit in self-help. I love that this book promoted self-awareness, personal boundaries, and compassion for others but especially for oneself. These are very valuable attributes to anyone looking to grow. I loved that the author shared personal stories and helped the reader see destructive behaviors from another perspective. It's therapeutic to see bigger pictures and approach people with understanding and empathy. I think learning these lessons is very necessary to reprocess the training and indoctrination we receive as children. They help us uncover and form ourselves instead of just being a product of our environment. On those principals, this book could be very helpful for some. The author did a fabulous job describing thought processes and behaviors. The author was very articulate. I find that to be a wonderful attribute and can tell she did a lot of personal work to be able to describe her feelings and their repercussions as well as she did. This book tells the experience of the author. Realize that your path will be different.

Overall, I think this book could be very useful for some people but it's certainly not for everyone.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

Memoirs of a woman’s decent into madness

TARGET AUDIENCE: Narrow niche book. It was difficult for me to identify exactly who would benefit from this book. It is a autobiography of her lifelong path in becoming a spiritual healer. If you are already a fan of hers maybe you will enjoy listening to her bizarre story. You must be open to fringe eastern religions. Her spiritual beliefs were very difficult for me to accept. Everything from Catholicism to Buddhism to taro card reading.

OVERALL: As a practicing mental health clinician and a fan of meditation, eastern philosophy, the Dali Lama, Buddhist teachings self discovery and compassion I thought I was going to love this book…. My experience couldn’t be further from my expectations. Out of the 380 books I have read or listened to in the past three years this was by far the worst. I wondered why her psychiatrist has not prescribed her an anti-psychotic. It goes to show that there is a niche for every book and that anyone can be published if they work hard enough. The sole redeeming message in the book was unintended: anyone can achieve anything if you work hard enough… obtain a doctorate, publish a book, or to become a meditation teacher. I’m sorry that I can’t recommend this book. I wish good things for this author and if you choose to purchase this book I hope it provides you what it did not for me… help on your path to Wellness.

“This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost."